[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 July 2012, 12:01 GMT]
A Muslim gang, carrying guns, stormed the fishing village of
Koanthaip-piddi in Mannaar Town division on Friday and destroyed 23
fishing huts and two fiberglass boats with axes, causing ethnic tension
between Tami Catholics and Muslims. Rishard Badurdeen, a politician from
Mannaar, who has become SL minister of Industry & Commerce in
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s cabinet after defecting the Sri Lanka Muslim
Congress (SLMC), is alleged of inciting ethnic violence in Mannaar
attempting to woo Muslim voters in favour of Rajapaksa's ruling SLFP.
About 800 of 3,200 fisher families, most of them Catholics, who had
displaced from Vidaththal-theevu village in 1999 following a military
operation by the occupying Sri Lankan forces, sought refuge and later
settled down in ‘Joseph Vaas Nakar’ village in Mannaar DS division.
A
fisheries jetty was constructed at Koanthaip-piddi to facilitate the
livelihood of the Catholic fishermen settled in Joseph Vaas village.
In
the meantime, Muslims, who were evicted by the LTTE in 1990 and who
have begun to resettle in recent years, have been claiming that the
jetty of Koanthaip-piddi belonged to Muslims, who lived in Uppuk-ku'lam.
The dispute was being resolved through civil sources at the divisional and district level.
According
to a decision taken at a conference held on 26 June 2012 by the civil
officials, new lands were allocated at 2nd Mile Post along Mannaar main
road for the 800 fisher families from Vidaththal-theevu.
But,
the newly allocated lands were already subjected to a legal dispute. An
interim injunction order restricting settlement was issued on 29 June.
As
a result, the Catholic fisher families were deprived from residing in
Joseph Vaas Nakar and also in the new land located along Mannaar main
road as the said land is in legal dispute.
The fisher families,
undergoing hardship to earn for their day to day survival, resumed their
usual fishing activities using the jetty at Koanthaip-piddi as earlier.
It is at this juncture, the armed gang, allegedly operated by
the SL minister Rishard Badurdeen triggered a section of Muslims,
numbering around 300, who concluded Jumma Prayer on Friday noon to walk
with them to threaten the Catholic fishermen.
The latest episode
of deploying armed Muslim gang and inciting violence is reported while
the SL minister was staying in Mannaar.
Rishard Badurdeen,
engaged in land grab and exploitation, has also gone on record
threatening Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph, the Catholic Bishop of Mannaar,
in a public address in the Sri Lankan Parliament.
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